Imps out to capitalise on Arsenal woes
Lincoln defender Luke Waterfall believes Arsenal supporters could rebel against under-pressure boss Arsene Wenger and back the Imps at the Emirates Stadium tomorrow.
The National League leaders have become the first non-league team since 1914 to reach the last eight of the FA Cup.
Now they have the target of bringing down Arsenal, the 12-time winners.
But the Gunners are out of sorts and have lost five of their last seven matches, including two brutal 5-1 defeats toBayern Munich.
The second of those losses to the Germans came on Tuesday, extinguishing Arsenal’s hopes in the Champions League. And with the Premier League title out of reach it would cap a dismal spell for Wenger if Lincoln were to kill off another route to silverware.
“He’s under pressure,” said 26-year-old Waterfall. “Some Arsenal fans might be going there wanting us to win.
“If we start well, we might have 60,000 people behind us, not just 9,000.”
Such a scenario would be the stuff of nightmares for Wenger, who is in his 21st year as Arsenal manager and yet to announce whether he will stay on beyond the summer.
Lincoln are unafraid of their Premier League opponents, and Waterfall hopes the star names are all brought out for the televised tea-time fixture.
“We’ll go there believing in ourselves. We won’t park the bus, we’ll play our usual game,” Waterfall said.
“We want their big players to play. Their manager is under pressure, so I would expect their big names to play.”
Barcelona are even inspiring Lincoln, after their epic Champions League win. “If they can do what they did, why can’t we beat Arsenal?” Waterfall said. “People thought we couldn’t beat Burnley.”